Summons, Espers, Guardian Forces, Aeons.
by Sir Diddimus
Summary: The Esper's point of view, spanning time and space. How do they percieve the order of events in the tales of Final Fantasy? What does the world look like to them? Read and Review.
1. The Dragon Lord's Vision.

Summons, Espers, Guardian Forces, Aeons. 

Chapter 1.

By Sir Diddimus

(I do not own the rights to, nor did I create, the names, characters, or anything about Summoned Monsters, Espers, Guardian Forces, or Aeons. The makers of Final Fantasy and/or Squaresoft own them)

Bahamut's eyes were closed. He was seeing visions, seeing the world of humans pass him by in an endless passage of time. He saw evil men plotting destruction, heroes being born. Inventions created, cities rising and falling. Technology. Magic. 

Magic. Magic had once been a problem for his kind. He remembered the days when humans had drained his powers for the stuff. 

'Bah, magic', he thought, opening his eyes and shutting the visions away. The humans had since found new means to acquire magic, whether through study, spherical jewels, or drawing it from the earth. His kind was no longer employed for such means.

Moving towards the nearest seat in his dark chambers, he sat with a resounding sigh, thinking about how he loathed and loved humans. In the passage of time, humans had lost the ability to easily call upon him, or any of his kind. That power had dwindled to a relative few, the ones that he respected. The summoners. 

Summoners were friendly, and they respected him in turn. They knew they were calling on an ancient and powerful being, and did so out of good will. He remembered many of them, but he loved one above all the rest. The green haired girl. She had esteemed the Espers so much that she had come to live with them. 

Bahamut smiled. Rydia. He spoke the name in his mind again and again, glad that she still lived among the Espers. She had helped them to understand humans more, to not hate or fear them.

Her time had passed in the world of humans, her friends and companions long dead, but she didn't seem to mind. Funny, how she put on such steel resolve so as not to hurt the Espers feelings. The Espers, who had power beyond her imagination. 

Bahamut looked about his chambers. 

'Well, power beyond imagination doesn't mean anything when you're stuck wherever those damned powers put you.'

 The Espers had been moved about many times in their lives, through human means as well as their own. After the infiltration and fall of their city many years ago, they had moved to an isle deep under the earth, and from there to the Void, and from there to their current location, a dimension only accessible to the most powerful of sorcerers.

Unfortunately, the new locale didn't exempt them from being called upon. Nothing seemed to ever change that. The summoning would change from time to time, the process, execution, and location, but never the fact that if the Summoner willed it, it would be done.

'Well, there it is,' thought Bahamut, stretching the pair of legs that came with his humanoid form. He preferred the form only because his large dragon body could not fit into his chambers. Otherwise he loved to fly free with Pandemona's wind flowing against his massive wings, feeling freedom from the world of humans.

But not right now. Now he was cloaked in thought, from time to time letting the visions seep into his head of what would be coming soon. The future, or rather, his new Caller. Or Summoner. Whichever the humans called them currently.

Peering farther still, eyes now shut again, he saw the next point in which his kind would be called upon. It was a world of technology once more, with magic readily available but secondary to the humans. He saw a floating building first, and then a vast city of technology. Next he saw a bleeding moon, (Which he sighed upon seeing, missing his old home) a looming black castle with tentacle-like chains, and a red ship that resembled him. 

"Well at least they have taste," he said aloud, eyes still shut, trying to peer further. He saw monsters running free, (As usual, the damned lucky fools) a town built upon a ruined bridge, half in the water, and then finally what he was looking for. An Esper. He focused, trying to form the Esper's shape in his mind. 

The image was blurred. All he could see, or feel rather, was the creature's power. It left a kind of residue on his vision, but not a shape. He opened his eyes suddenly, and then breathed quietly a moment before shutting them again. Forcing the other images out of the vision, he focused entirely on the image, trying to get a shape, a color, an element, anything.

Then it came. All shape and texture faded from the vision's world, and the shape shot into focus. He looked puzzled at the creature a moment, but then recognized it as an incarnation Titan sometimes took on. Or incarnations, rather. All Espers had some power to change form, and Titan's was to either be his huge, muscle-bound self, or to split into two separate yet controlled beings, known as Sacred and Minotaur to humans. All Bahamut could see in the vision was Sacred, but he didn't worry much. His two forms weren't always near each other. It is an advantage to have two sets of eyes looking in two different places.

Bahamut opened his eyes and shook the visions out of his head, and stared at the floor of his chambers, a silverish cobblestone design. He wasn't much surprised by the vision, but that didn't stop him from being uneasy.  

'Same deal then,' he thought, 'we can dwell freely in their world until some daring "hero" comes and defeats us in battle. Great'.

He stood. 

'No sense in dawdling,' he thought, 'best to go assemble the whole lot and tell them we're about to be slaves…. Again.'

By 'the whole lot' he meant the rest of the Espers, and that would mean a major pain in his ass. Besides hearing the same old complaints, he couldn't stand the literal fiery temper of Ifrit or the hint of sadness in Shiva's face whenever he went to tell them a new age of calling was upon them. 

Ifrit and Shiva were never exempt from the calling. While some of the other Espers for one reason or another weren't called upon every time an age of calling began, the fire demon and the ice goddess were always the first to go. Bahamut was hardly ever excused from the calling himself, but he knew that since the time of the first summoning Ifrit and Shiva had had to use their powers for whatever human called to them.

And this new age didn't seem to single out the calling to just Summoners. Yes, he would have to be cautious. It had been years since just anyone could bind an Esper to his or her will, and they would not be happy to hear it.

Bahamut threw his dark cloak over his shoulders and made his way out of his chambers, and into the relatively open paths of the Esper dimension, making his way to the commons.

'Well, at least they created a ship in my image,' he thought on the way.

To be continued….


	2. The Calling.

Summons, Espers, Guardian Forces, Aeons. 

Chapter 2.

By Sir Diddimus

(I do not own the rights to, nor did I create, the names, characters, or anything about Summoned Monsters, Espers, Guardian Forces, or Aeons. The makers of Final Fantasy and/or Squaresoft own them)

'Diablos.'

The devil opened his eyes. 

'Yes, Bahamut?'

'I am gathering all Espers in the commons. Something has come up.'

            Diablos unfurled his lanky form, which had been curled up into a kind of fetal position, floating in what he called his dwelling, but was nothing more than the outskirts of the Esper village.

            'I shall be there in a moment.'

            He did not like being disturbed. Much less did he enjoy the idea of congregating with his "fellow Espers". They did not much enjoy his presence, and he in turn shunned theirs, opting instead to hibernate quietly until another time of Calling.

            It had always been like this for the devil. Long ago, when the goddesses had made the Espers, he had been something of an evil man. No tyrant, but a person who shunned the light and made quick work of those who would bother him. Diablos had used the then taboo Dark Magic in those days, and when he was transformed, the darkness reflected in his soul. 

            The Calling did not yearn for him much. It did not trust him, perhaps. He remembered only one or two occasions in his ancient existence when he had been Called. The Calling had named him "Lich" then, his other form that was the same, if not more shocking, than his normal body. This often angered Diablos. Bahamut could take human form. Shiva was humanoid enough, and Leviathan and Ashura often took on the shape.

            But not Diablos. He would be forever shaped as a leathery-winged demon with every extremity coming to a sharp point. His form as Lich wasn't much better. Unshorn, tangled hair over a dark, almost featureless face, and wings of bone. 

            Not that looking good troubled him much. He had realized, soon after his first Calling, long following the destruction of the three goddesses, that all he could do was pay penance for his life of evil. Of course, his way wasn't always blunt. He didn't make extra steps to make the world shine brighter or for birds to sing, (If he could he would crush and eat the damned shrill things out of existence) but lent his hand in the battles his Summoner faced, and lent it well. His foes hardly ever expected him. The Demon Prince. The Dark Messenger.

            With a start he kicked into the air as if through water, and shot himself high into the swift currents of the dimension's wind. The wind he liked. Pandemona was highly respected by the flying Espers, and provided currents to gain strength in, or to leisurely sail in with little or no purpose.

            Pandemona served his purpose well. The dimension the Espers called home was one without anything. No gravity, ground, sky, wind, heat, cold, or water. Though the Espers needed none of those things, providing them was easy, and helped ease the strain of going from one place to the next. 

            The Espers who had the most natural relationship with the elementals carried out the task of providing these things. Titan, being the master of Earth, gave solid firmness to the ground, while Ramuh, lord of Thunder gave shape to the sky. Pandemona gave breath to the wind, while Ifrit generated the heat of Fire, countered by Shiva's will of Ice. Leviathan spawned water for them, and Diablos was the one to set gravity into the dimension, giving it some sense of normalcy.  

            The commons were slowly creeping into Diablos' sight, and he saw many Espers had already gathered there, standing silently as if awaiting a sentence of death. Diablos scoffed at them. 

            He set down near the edge of the large circle of Espers, nodding mutely to Phoenix, whose wings were hanging limply on her back. She was a dazzling creature, wings shimmering, emitting their own golden light, and red feathers glowing softly in the odd illumination of the dimension. From the look on her face, she knew what was going on. Diablos turned away and looked up at a shadow that had passed overhead. 

            Bahamut. His massive wings were spread far apart, and he was floating directly above the mass of Espers, silently turning to look down at them, one by one. Every now and again he would bring his gaze back up and close his eyes, as if he was a blind human listening to people whisper around him.

            Diablos waited patiently, and spoke to Phoenix now and then.

            "You see Shiva and Ifrit?" he asked, making sure to keep his voice low.

            Phoenix cast her gaze down.

            "Yes, I was the one to send for them."

            Silence followed, neither Esper saying much, until she finally spoke,

            "They came along swiftly. Yet silent… of course. This will never change for them. And they know it. I can never tell if they are ever fully going to understand."

            Diablos didn't make any acknowledgement of the information, and looked back up at Bahamut. He had opened his eyes and was nodding, to whom the devil wasn't sure. He had seen the same thing happen countless times, the colossal dragon lord hovering above before….

            "The Time of Calling is upon us; the Summoners… this age does not give them sole access to our powers. Now we must be cautious. We no longer have their protection. And…" Bahamut stopped to pause and gauge responses from the Espers below. Seeing Shiva broke his heart. Ifrit's countenance didn't help, either.

            "And they have a new way of binding us."

            There was a hushed roar from many Espers below. Being summoned from just anyone was one thing, but this was turning ugly fast…

            "First, a good deal of us will be under the control of Monsters. They can not bring out our true form, but… they will use our magic."

            A cry from an Esper who had survived the Gestahl Empire's Magitek Research Facility rang through the crowded commons. Another went to comfort him.

            "We will only be under their spell a short while. The humans have devised a new means of attaining magic, and we can also be attained through the method. Remember, the Calling rarely pits us on the side of evil. Those who are meant to receive our powers… will be worthy."

            Bahamut looked about the Espers. Not a one of them seemed to believe his lie. He didn't blame them, and they didn't say anything about it.

            "What about the others?" Tritoch, the ostrich-like Esper spoke up, "the ones not… used by Monsters?"

            "The others will be free to roam on the human world as they please, until challenged," Bahamut spoke in his direction. A large portion of anxiety was lifted off the amassed Espers, but they weren't about to relax yet.

            "As I was saying before," Bahamut spoke, "they have a new method of summoning us. We are…" he struggled with the words, "we become… we are ingrained into the spirit of our possessor."

            Confusion hung about the horde, but no one spoke. Bahamut's wings started to beat with impressive speed.

            "We don't have much time. The Calling is upon us once again."

            He flew around the circle, his speed increasing. His voice grew in pitch, and resounded, though there was nothing about the space around him that would create such an echo.

            "You are the Summoned! You were made in the same vein as magic itself!"

            The air grew thick and heavy. Bahamut's shouts were screams now.

            "Ramuh!"

            "Siren!"

            "Titan!"

             The three disappeared as he called them; changing form and shimmering into the whirlpool of air Bahamut was creating.

            "Carbuncle!"

            "Leviathan!"

            "Pandemona!"

            "Ashura!"

            "Alexander!"

            Just the same as before, the Espers vanished into the air.

            "Doomtrain!!"

            "Cactuar!!"

            "Tonberry!!"

            "Phoenix!!"

            Diablos moved slightly out of the way as the giant bird shot away from him, and he stared into the circular gateway, until-

            "DIABLOS!"

            He was gone.

            Bahamut kept the circle up for a moment, no longer being able to delay the next two names.

            "Shiva…!"

            "Ifrit…!"

            They disappeared without anyone having a chance to look at their faces.

            "Boko!"

            The jittery little chocobo went along as well, chirping out something between surprise and anguish.

            "Mog! And Odin!"

            He made a few more passes before he finished the Calling.

            "Ragnarok!"

            He swooped to the middle and shimmered too brightly for most of the Espers to look at.

            It was his last scream, and the last time he'd be in the Esper dimension for a long while.

            "BAHAMUT!!!"

            The circle imploded on him, and he was gone. The other Espers sighed in relief, and in worry. They never knew who would be coming back from the Calling alive. The Silf sisters crowded together and spoke in quick, hushed voices, while Maduin heaved a mighty breath, still staring at the now still sky. All the unchosen did now was wait.

More to follow…


	3. Runaway Train.

Summons, Espers, Guardian Forces, Aeons. 

Chapter 3.

By Sir Diddimus

(I do not own the rights to, nor did I create, the names, characters, or anything about Summoned Monsters, Espers, Guardian Forces, or Aeons. The makers of Final Fantasy and/or Squaresoft own them)

                        Doomtrain was bound for nowhere. It could not tell where it was, and couldn't see where it was going. Darkness. It was on tracks of some sort, very ancient ones by the feel of them. And there were monsters here, too. In these… tunnels.

                        The engine roared passed them. Monsters fell to the ground, sick with poison, blind, and soon dying. Doomtrain liked what it was capable of in this world. Liked it a lot.

                        It was a very large Esper, with countless cars attached to it's engine, which served as the face and head of the creature. But Doomtrain hadn't always been that shape. It had been trapped in an impious little materia at one point, taking the incarnation of a humanoid. "Hades", the humans dubbed it. They had not called it the ancient name of _Esper_, which defined Doomtrain's kind. That was a word of the language the Espers had spoken when they were once human. Before the three goddesses became angry. 

"Slaves of the Goddess," Doomtrain spoke aloud. The tunnels were not bringing him anything but more twists and turns. Focusing its power, Doomtrain tried to turn itself into a more suitable form. 

Nothing happened. Cursing its bad luck, Doomtrain sped on, searching for an exit of some kind. Searching for light.

It had awoken in the tunnels more than five days prior, and had found nothing since. The Calling had brought him there. It was thankful that it wasn't trapped with one of the monsters, as some of the other Espers had been. 

'Curse the Calling!' it thought, 'and curse these damned tunnels!'

Since no progress was being perceivably made, (And since the cursing wasn't either) Doomtrain slowly stopped and sat still, thinking. If it could focus it's energies upward, it might be possible to break the surface. The drawback would be not knowing what was above.

It shined its lights brighter upon the tunnel ahead. Nothing. If it couldn't get out of this place soon, than it might not be able to find a Summoner. It was believed that if an Esper didn't serve its purpose after the Calling, then it would be destroyed. 

                        Doomtrain didn't believe these superstitions, of course. The Goddesses were long gone, and whatever Force powered The Calling wasn't a malevolent one. But lending its powers was better than doing nothing.

                        Curse not being able to change form! It had not been able to do so completely since it had mistakenly undertaken the form of Hades. Being a machine, Doomtrain lacked certain intuitions and abilities. More often then not, changing form was a complete and utter accident.

                        Just when it would have helped. Doomtrain's body didn't permit acrobatics like turning around in small places. All Machine Espers had this problem. Alexander, for example, was not necessarily long and obtrusive so much as massive and bulky. Even in it's smallest form Alexander was the same size as a large house. Golem, another Esper, had restrictions in moving at all, thanks to it's poor design in legs.

                        A worshipper of the Goddesses had created the Machine Espers in the olden days, lending his craft to the greedy and malicious beings. Doomtrain had been made for the Goddess of Death, Doomgaze, the train painted in her colors, and sculpted to her fancy. She altered the machine and made it her personal transport for the dead, sending it to pick up lost souls, running on Tracks built of sorrow.

                        The Train of Suffering shut off it's lights. The Calling did not mean for It to be found in it's whole form. It toyed with the idea of breaking the surface anyway, but thought better to remain where it was. 

                        Shifting the focus of it's powers once again, Doomtrain utilized an ancient method of communication into a red-jeweled ring. The ring was then psychically connected to Doomtrain's consciousness, and thrown into a minor time flux, sending it six months into the past. Where the ring had landed, or who had it, Doomtrain did not know.

                        When all other forms of communication fail to reach a summoner, the common thing to do was send an object out into the world, hoping that it would reach good hands. The object made it possible to bring the Esper to the summoner, instead of the other way around. 

                        Doomtrain considered the action laziness, but anything was better then sitting around in the dark. Being a machine, It had patience, but not much use for the wasting of time.

                        The Train shifted it's attentions to directly above its head. Someone or something was coming. How? Risking a move, Doomtrain slowly let it's eyes trail up. 

                        An old man had lifted a latch in the world above, letting sunlight stream in. He was throwing a rope ladder down from the opening, and from the look of his dress was an explorer. The man was whistling and talking to himself in between unwittingly dropping mining equipment onto Doomtrain's body, and finally lowering himself. 

                        The man had not noticed the train yet. He was on top of Doomtrain's head now, lighting a torch to see in the darkness.

                        "Now what do we have here?" the man said aloud. He was picking up his tools, and noticing the new texture of the ground. 

                        "Something sticking out of the…?" The man was leaping down from Doomtrain's form now, and bringing his torch to It's body. 

                        "Some kind'a landslide, I see," he said, poking at the Train. He walked around to the front or it, where Doomtrain's ghastly metallic face was. When the old man lifted the torch, revealing the face, its wearer let loose a loud blast of steam. 

                        It didn't take but four seconds for the man to pass out. 

                        Later, Doomtrain had successfully altered the space around the old man, lighting it with poisonous green fissures and stone shapes. It's plan was to use the man to get information on its current surroundings, and hopefully about the world above. The man had been out cold for three hours now. 

                        The Train blasted steam with Dispel magic mixed into it, hoping to wake the man up. Hopefully soon, as the Dispel was making It weak. Slowly yet surely the old man came to. He looked up to see Doomtrain staring right at him. He let loose a howl that would make Fenrir proud, and tried to run. 

                        The Stone magic stopped him. He desperately wheeled about for minutes, trying every possible escape. Finally the Train lost it's patience, and cast Stone up to the man's neck. He now had no choice but to look at the pained metallic face in front of him.

                        Doomtrain spoke first.

                        "Do you know who I am?"

                        The man tried to shake his head no, but found he couldn't. He uttered a cry that sounded like a negative response.

                        "I am Doomtrain. I am an Esper. Have you heard of Espers? Do not be afraid, I will not harm you so long as you answer my questions truthfully and promptly."

                        The man looked like he understood.

                        "They call me Bav, uhm, Mr. Doomtrain."

                        Doomtrain knew how to look malicious.

                        "Hello, Bav. You may call me Hades. It is a shorter name. Now then, have you ever heard of Espers? Magical beings called upon by Summoners?"

                        Bav squinted. His face revealed an old man who had found himself lost in a nightmare with a demon made of iron. But in his state he let all he knew come forth, fearful of the strange machine.

                        "Espers? Magical…. OH! You are one of things Doc Odine utilized, right?"

                        Doomtrain let it's steam erupt into a howl.

                        "I am no creation of a mere _man_, Bav! Look you to respect the ancient thing in front of you!"

                        'Ah, dramatics,' the machine thought. It had the desired effect. How Doomtrain loved leaving effects on things! Bav was stammering apologies immediately and offering all sorts of answers.

                        "Forgive me, Lord Hades. I do not wish to anger you." The old man looked like he was crying.

                        "I meant… well that is to say, I thought you were one of his 'Guardian Forces'."

                        Doomtrain was intrigued.

                        "Guardian Forces? Tell me more."

                        Bav nodded as best he could in his present state of head and rock.

                        "Guardian Forces are… well they are Beings that have been bonded with a human host. The bonding is what Doc Odine created, see. He made an easily accessible way to 'junction' your strength to them."

                        Doomtrain could guess who these "Guardian Forces" were.

                        "Where do these 'Guardian Forces' come from?"

                        "No-no-nobody knows. Many believe they come from Hyne."

                        Hyne? Well, best save that name for later.

                        "LET ME ASSURE YOU THEY DO NOT!"

                        Bav was nodding and crying like a baby again. Doomtrain found an odd satisfaction in that.

                        "Now, where am I? What are these tunnels?"

                        Bav gave Doomtrain a look like one gives a child asking where babies come from. Remembering himself, he spoke up.

                        "The abandoned mines of Esthar, Lord Hades. These were the first design of the train system between the continents, but many years ago the Lunar Cry destroyed it."

                        Esthar, continents, Lunar Cry….

                        Doomtrain had had enough. It was time to get out of this prison of rock. 

                        "Bav, what I am about to tell you is more important than your life. If you do not follow me, then I shall send my devils to take you!"

                        Bav whimpered, but showed signs that he understood.

                        "I have sent a magical ring into your world, one that lends my power to whomever finds it. Make sure you find the person who finds the ring. You must tell them that they need SixSixSix items to summon me. Are you listening? Good. Tell them the items will be alloy of blades and armor, angel's healing tonic, and the arms of Bad Breath."

                        Bav looked more puzzled then he normally would at seeing a talking train. When he got back home, he would never touch alcohol again. Not even Winhill Port. 

                        "I can do that," he said, as smoothly as was possible.

                        Doomtrain let go it's hold on the poor old man. He scrambled to the rope ladder.

                        "Bav?"

                        The old man stopped and winced, scared of what would happen next. Doomtrain let itself glow in shades of green and red.

                        "Do not forget that Espers are no man's slaves."

                        Bav nodded copiously, but did not understand in the least what Doomtrain meant. In seconds he was gone, his tools forgotten on the back of the Train of Lost Souls. It thought about humans for weeks after that, and how he could never seem to understand them. It guessed that the reason was It had not been human when It had been transformed. It had been a machine.

                        Doomtrain didn't have that vague memory of humanity that other Espers did. It had always taken on the opinions and feelings of the Espers that surrounded It, trying to emulate what an upstanding, strong Esper should be.

                        And like many it felt the need to repent for sins made earlier in life. Although It had had little say in what Doomgaze had made It. That didn't matter. In every free moment of silence that Doomtrain had, It was reminded of the souls of the dead inside of It's body, writhing in grief and agony. The Train of Death had always wished that It was carrying it's passengers to a better place, but It could never know.

                        Weeks later Doomtrain felt enlightened suddenly, a feeling akin to a tug on the clothing of a parent by an anxious child. It was being brought forth. Someone had found the ring and had solved the puzzle. Soon the Train of Anguish would be reunited with fellow Espers, and share and relate the tales of this strange new world. 

                        Doomtrain felt the tunnel slide away, and felt Itself in the presence of an open world, filled with light.

                        "You Called?", It asked.

More Tales of the Espers to follow….  
                        


End file.
